Andreas Müller and Steffen Müller received the coveted award from Hubert Aiwanger, Minister of State for Economy, Regional Development and Energy, in a festive ceremony.
Bavarian Energy Award for the “CO2-neutral factory | Green Factory” of the Alois Müller Group
Bavaria’s Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger presents the award
Every two years, the State of Bavaria awards the “Bavarian Energy Prize” for outstanding achievements in the field of energy. This year, 170 applications were submitted by companies, research institutes and organizations. The Ministry awards the prizes in a total of eight categories: Buildings as Energy System/Building Concept, Energy Generation – Electricity, Heat, Energy Distribution and Storage – Electricity, Heat, Energy Efficiency in Industrial Processes and Production as well as Energy Efficiency Networks, Products and Applications, Municipal Energy Concepts, Initiatives/Educational Projects and Energy Research.
On October 22, the Bavarian State Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy Hubert Aiwanger presented the Bavarian Energy Award in the category “Energy Distribution and Storage – Electricity, Heat” to the Alois Müller Group.
Managing Director Andreas Müller accepted the coveted award personally in Munich “We are very proud of this award, because ideas for intelligent and responsible use of energy are more important than ever. Fridays for Future, the Paris Climate Agreement or a possible CO2 tax in Germany – sustainability remains a top issue. And yet the switch to resource- and cost-efficient production is not as complicated as many suspect”.
The “CO2-neutral factory | Green Factory” at the company’s headquarters in Ungerhausen received the award. The green factory demonstrates in an exemplary manner how CO2-neutral production can be achieved through renewable energies, smart networking and demand side management. The 18,000 m² production and office building, which is virtually energy self-sufficient, convinced the jury with a sustainable and energy-flexible concept that can also be implemented for other companies in Germany. The energy comes from a photovoltaic system, a combined heat and power plant and a pellet heating system powered by renewable raw materials. Different storage media compensate for possible fluctuations in generation. To ensure that the energy generated in a climate-friendly manner is used in the best possible way, the entire production process is geared to the generation of electricity.
The prize winners were selected by an independent jury of seven proven energy experts from various Bavarian universities in a multi-stage selection process.
“Our Green Factory is unique in Germany – but it doesn’t have to remain so. On the contrary: the concept of the Green Factory, i.e. the generation of solar power, the applied demand side management, the practiced sector coupling and the internal intelligent power grid, the so-called Smart Grid, can be adapted for almost all companies in Germany”, explains Andreas Müller, Managing Director of the Alois Müller Group. Companies who want to see for themselves can visit the Green Factory. “If required, we will also present all components with the necessary key figures,” Müller continues.
An important prerequisite for climate-neutral production is the analysis of all material and energy flows required for the production steps. An ERP system (ERP for Enterprise Resource Planning) is used to compare the order situation and production data with the regenerative energy data. Production steps are thus adapted to the availability of solar power.
The Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Hubert Aiwanger, was pleased to award prizes to the best projects again in 2020: “We want to award prizes for new, creative ideas for the intelligent and responsible use of energy, and we want to bring them more into the public eye. The Bavarian Energy Award is a highly esteemed and renowned recognition prize for pioneering energy technology and applications. It honors outstanding achievements in Bavaria in the fields of new energy technologies, renewable energies and energy efficiency”.
The Green Factory went into operation in summer 2019. Here, the Alois Müller Group manufactures ventilation ducts and plant engineering components such as steel and stainless steel piping systems, containerized energy centers and energy module systems.
More than 250 people work on the premises in the production and administration areas. The Alois-Müller Group also operates its own electric filling station at the Ungerhausen site, which is also available to external vehicles.
Further information on the Bavarian Energy Award 2020 is available at: https://www.bayerischer-energiepreis.de/
To the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HCtOR8qdfk